Great moments in kid-friendly dining: The 95-cent meatball

Any restaurant can throw a few crayons on the table, charge $6.95 for chicken strips and fries, and then declare itself kid-friendly. And God bless each and every one. Sometimes those crayons are the only thing stopping my son from turning into this.

ikea.com.sg

Ikea meatballs: no assembly required.

But when you see a child-size item for less than $2 at a restaurant, you know the people calling the shots have kids themselves. We went to Amici’s a few weeks ago and were surprised to find a 95-cent meatball, which along with the free bread and part of our salad was enough to satisfy our toddler.

While several of us have written various spins on the “best kid-friendly restaurants in the Bay Area” theme, places that offer cheap food on their children’s menus get their own special Hall of Fame.

Here are a few favorites:

Amici’s Pizzeria: I always feel a pang of journalistic failure when promoting chain restaurants — even local ones — on this blog. But the people at Amici’s clearly know how to run a business. The food is decent, and every time we go there the excellent service and kid-friendly touches are always noticeable. Multiple locations

Cactus Taqueria: I’ve pimped this Rockridge eatery 60 or 70 times on The Poop. But you can’t argue with $1 for a plate of rice and beans. 5642 College Avenue, Oakland

Ikea: I find some of the food here borderline vile, but you can get a pile of meatballs for less than $3, and Ikea usually has some healthy options such as steamed vegetables. If only their furniture sucked a little bit less … 4400 Shellmound Street, Emeryville

Wendy’s: The decision to take my 2-year-old son to McDonald’s two months ago was met with several calls to CPS, but I’m still going to defend fast food kid menus as a necessary evil. Wendy’s seems to have the best options, with turkey sandwiches, yogurt and orange slices that almost look sort of healthy. Multiple locations

I think restaurants might actually be doing themselves a favor when they offer these kinds of deals. When the prices are higher and the portions bigger, we’re more likely to order nothing for our son and just feed him off our plates. (Which if I remember correctly, was determined to be acceptable behavior in the comments thread of the infamous Houlihans/Burger King post.) These sort of mini-tapas items also acknowledge the reality that kids between 1 and 3 years old aren’t as likely to eat a whole hamburger.